Enter TopLift 2011
By Euan Youdale07 September 2011
The 13th annual TopLift contest is here. Readers of International Cranes and Specialized Transport magazine are asked to choose their favourite lift of the year from our selection of 10 spectacular projects carried out over the last 12 months.
You can read a short synopsis of each project below and view their corresponding picture to the right.
A PDF version of the voting form that you can fill in and fax back is available by clicking here.
Alternatively, you can e-mail your vote to toplift@khl.com - please ensure you provide all the information as requested in the downloadable PDF form.
The closing date for votes has been extended to Friday 28 October 2011. All entries must be received by this deadline.
ENTRY 1
Trinity treasure
EQUIPMENT USER: Gulf Special Services
LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Manitowoc Model 21000
LOCATION: USA
The Model 21000 with MAX-ER manoeuvred 11 welded sections of a bridge arch into place for the Dallas Trinity River Corridor project. The crane worked at a radius of 150 to 257 feet (46 to 78 m). The sections weighed up to 235 US tons (213 tonnes) each and were up to 137 feet long.
ENTRY 2
WIND WONDER
EQUIPMENT USER: Enercon
LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Terex CC 9800 crawler
LOCATION: Germany
Enercon erected three E-126 wind turbines in Naumburg-Stößen. Rated at 7.5 MW, the Enercon E-126 wind turbine is one of the most powerful in the world. Its components have the size to match. A challenge was lifting the fully-assembled 350 tonne nacelle to a height of 138 m.
ENTRY 3
HYDRO SETTING
EQUIPMENT USER: Burkhalter
LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Burkhalter Self Erecting Tower (BSET)
LOCATION: USA
The 2,240 US ton (2,000 tonne) capacity BSET uses hydraulic strand jacks mounted atop a set of girders spanning two pairs of hydraulically self erecting lattice towers. The load was a 130 foot (40 m) long, 1,051,000 pound hydrocracker reactor at an operating refinery near Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was erected in a maze of piping and working facilities.
ENTRY 4
SUSPENSION STRENGTH
EQUIPMENT USER: American bridge/Fluor Daniel joint venture (ABF)
LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Sheer leg crane barge
LOCATION: USA
The 1,700 tonne barge-mounted crane named the Left Coast Lifter placed deck sections and falsework for a self-anchored suspension bridge (SAS), part of the San Francisco Bay Bridge project. It also lifted the first sections of the 525 foot long bridge tower, seen here. It was ferried across the Pacific from Shanghai, China.
ENTRY 5
NASA MODULES
EQUIPMENT USER: Buckner Companies
LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Liebherr LR 1600/2 crawler crane
LOCATION: USA
The crane was used to install vessels and components weighing up to 181 tonnes in the construction of the A-3 Test Stand at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Centre in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Scheduled for completion in 2012 it will test engines at simulated altitudes of 30,480 m.
ENTRY 6
DOME DUAL
EQUIPMENT USER: BKL
LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Liebherr LTM 1400-7.1 and LTM 1100-4.2 all terrains
LOCATION: Germany
The 100 and 400 tonne capacity all terrains replaced a spherical air-supported cover for a parabolic antenna at the earth station at Raisting in Bavaria. The LTM 1400-7.1 lifted the 5,200 square metres of protective skin hanging slack. A dozen retaining cables were let down from a personnel basket to hold the dome in place.
ENTRY: 7
STABLE SOLUTION
EQUIPMENT USER: Barnhart Crane & Rigging
LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Customised cantilever system with strand jacks
LOCATION: USA
Barnhart erected 11 pre-fabricated sections into a 191 tonne coffer dam, lowered the final coffer dam into the water and onto the dam wall at about a 6 degree angle and held the load in a stationary position while divers secured it to the dam face.
ENTRY 8
TWIN STACKING
EQUIPMENT USER: Al Jaber Heavy Lift
LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: Terex CC 8800-1 Twin crawler
LOCATION: Sharjah, UAE
The 3,200 tonne capacity crawler lowered rig leg sections from a height of 105 m on to the Noble Roger Lewis, one of the world's biggest offshore rigs, which was destined for the Arabian Gulf. The rig leg extensions weighed 425 tonnes each and measured 50 x 10 x 10 metres (L/W/H).
ENTRY 9
FAST FORWARD
EQUIPMENT USER: Jumbo Offshore
LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: 2 x 900 tonne capacity deck mounted cranes
LOCATION: UK
Jumbo installed 131 transition pieces, each weighing up to 300 tonnes, at the Greater Gabbard offshore wind farm. Its DP2 (dynamic positioning) Jumbo Javelin achieved a record-breaking installation speed of more than one a day. It was the first time transition pieces were transported and installed using a free floating vessel on dynamic positioning.
ENTRY: 10
REFINED APPROACH
EQUIPMENT USER: ALE
LIFTING EQUIPMENT USED: AL.SK190
LOCATION: USA
ALE's 190,000 tonne-metre rated AL.SK190 was used in a two-stage project that involved lifting 1,338 tonnes at 54 metres outreach. The structure was removed from the top of six coker drums at a height of 100 m at an oil refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. A complete derrick of three drill towers and cutting deck was lifted in one piece with a 12 point pick up.
